Some people are happy and some are worried, in the prefect's yamen, the prefect Chen Zhenhao is very worried, he is discussing the matter of Dongshuanghe Town with his master. The matter of Gu Batian was in an uproar, which was very unfavorable to them, and Governor Chen asked Master Sun: "Do you say that the matter of Gu Batian's taxation will be spread?" ”

Master Sun's real name is Sun Ce, and he is a confidant of Governor Chen.

Master Sun shook his head for a while, and finally shook his head and said: "It's hard to say about this matter now, but we have to plan early, in case the boss wants to be investigated, we have to have a countermeasure." ”

Governor Chen was so anxious that he stomped back and forth, after all, the matter of Gu Batian was not only a sensation in the local area, but also the news of the Yamen that the entire Jianghu Green Forest Road was also shaken, and this matter had already caused a chain reaction, maybe it would spread to the capital, and I really didn't know how to end it when the time came.

In fact, Chen Zhifu acquiesced to the taxation of the ancient Batian Dynasty also had his last resort, Chongzhen six years, Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others fled from Shaanxi to Henan, since then Henan has no peace, the peasant rebel army goes, such as locusts transit, villages are destroyed, farmland is barren, villagers either die or flee, a desolate.

In recent years, the imperial court has resisted the invasion of the Manchus externally, suppressed the uprising of the displaced people internally, the treasury has long been empty, and the imperial court has been urging taxes almost all the time, but Henan is the hardest hit area by bandits, agriculture is destroyed, and commerce is withering.

The government worries about taxes all day long, and how can it have the energy to manage local bandits, as long as the bandits do not know how to fight, burn, kill and loot, the government will turn a blind eye and close one eye.

Although Gu Batian is suspected of killing the former prefect, he can't find evidence, even if he finds evidence, he can't do anything, he privately raises his family army, entrenched in one side, if he gives him * to revolt, the prefect has to take responsibility, and if he doesn't get it right, he will lose his official position and turn around, this incident has happened several times in the court, so Chen Prefect can't be anxious and annoyed with Gu Batian, so he has to adopt a strategy of turning a blind eye.

A few years ago, the taxes in Dongshuanghe Town could not be collected at all, and later Gu Batian took the initiative to ask for taxes for the government, and collected at least one hundred and fifty taels of silver and two hundred stone of grain every year, which could solve the immediate needs of the prefect and let the prefect not go hungry for more than half a year, so that the prefect Chen acquiesced to the taxation of Gu Batian, but he did not expect to arouse such a great public anger.

The master said to Governor Chen: "The taxes collected by Dongshuanghe Town in a year can help us solve the problem of eating at the prefect's office, if this piece is gone, I am afraid that the life of the prefect's yamen will be even more difficult!" ”

Governor Chen frowned and said nothing, although he was less than fifty, his hair and beard were already gray, and it was not easy to be an official these days. The imperial court does not pay salaries, does not steal or rob, and it is not easy to feed a group of people.

At this moment, a servant came in from outside and reported: "My lord, a young man has come from outside, saying that he is from Dongshuanghe Town, and he is holding a letter in his hand, and he wants to present it to the prefect!" ”

When Governor Chen heard that he was from Dongshuanghe Town, he was very surprised, and hurriedly said, "Invite that person to the hall to talk!" He was anxious to know the situation in the town of East Shuanghe.

The official went out with a bang and took Mu Xiaoqing to the hall.

At this time, Governor Chen was already sitting in the center of the main hall, wearing an official uniform, and he was majestic.

Mu Xiaoqing stepped forward and kowtowed: "Lord Prefect, the villain obeyed the order of the owner of my village and came to deliver the letter." With that, he held the letter above his head.

Governor Chen said: "Excuse yourself and present the letter!" ”

A servant had already taken the letter from Mu Xiaoqing's hand, opened it and saw that the letter was written in small block letters, and the handwriting was neat, and it was easy to see that this person was not shallow in knowledge. Of course, the prefect didn't know that this letter was written by three great talents.

After reading the letter, the prefect couldn't help but be overjoyed, and said to Mu Xiaoqing softly: "Please go back and tell the owner of Yu Zhai that this mansion will be waiting for his arrival in the mansion tomorrow." Mu Xiaoqing thanked the prefect and got up to leave.

After Mu Xiaoqing left, the master hurriedly approached, and the prefect Chen handed the letter to the master, and the master read the letter carefully, and saw that the letter said: "Yu Xiang, the grass people, under the guidance of the prefect Chen, self-defense killed the thief Gu Batian, and in accordance with the prefect's intentions, find out the fact that Gu Batian killed the prefect, pacified Zhangjia Village and oppressed the good people. ”

"My lord, this is the owner of Yu Zhai taking the initiative to show goodwill. With this letter, we have a way to deal with it. It's a relief for us. The master said happily.

Governor Chen took the letter, folded it, hid it like a baby, and said happily: "It seems that this Yu Xiang is by no means an ordinary reckless hero, not only his martial arts are amazing, but his literary knowledge is not bad. ”

The master nodded hurriedly and praised: "The adults are smart, and the villains also think so, it seems that this Yu Xiang is really not simple." ”

The prefect and the master discussed how to see Yu Xiang tomorrow, and did not mention it for the time being.

Besides, Mu Xiaoqing returned to Zhangjiaxin Village, saw Yu Xiang and said: "The owner of the village, the prefect said that he agrees with what he said in the letter, and he will agree with you tomorrow." ”

Yu Xiang smiled and said, "Okay! In that case, let's create a momentum and make it lively. Let Wu Yaozu, Hou Fangyu and Wu Boyi write a few more notices and post them to Dongshuanghe Town and Fucheng. ”

Mu Xiaoqing took the order and left. Yu Xiang is now confident, he wants to let the more people who know about this as much as possible, on the one hand, to improve his prestige, which is conducive to the construction of the new village. On the other hand, it can also increase the bargaining chips. Dealing with these people in the government, Yu Xiang has no bottom in his heart, so he can only drum. Mobilize the common people to build momentum, even if the government wants to fight any crooked ideas, you have to be afraid.

Soon, someone rode a fast horse and posted the notice in Dongshuanghe Town and Fucheng.

In Dongshuanghe Town, there were several circles of people in front of a notice, and one of them read aloud: "Gu Batian and others bullied the good, killed good officials privately, the most evil, Mujiazhai killed the thief in self-defense, and handed over the body of the first criminal and related criminals to the prefect's yamen, and passed through Dongshuanghe Town tomorrow!" ”

The crowd suddenly became excited, shouting well, everyone rushed to tell each other, the news spread ten, ten to hundred, soon the entire Dongshuanghe Town knew, some people living in the mountainous countryside also heard that those who had been harmed by Gu Batian got up in the middle of the night and hurried overnight, all wanting to see the escort team before tomorrow.

There was also a commotion in the city, Governor Chen held a notice, pacing back and forth, Master Sun said: "My lord, the lord of Yu Zhai sent people everywhere to post notices and create momentum, obviously there is a sense of demonstration, it seems that we are still wary." ”

Governor Chen said: "Over the years, the local government is also an official and a bandit, and the people do not trust us, which is understandable. ”

The master praised: "It's still an adult who has foresight, and this move is to clear the suspicion; the second is to conform to public opinion; Sannai dispelled the concerns of the owner of the remaining village. It's really killing three birds with one stone. ”

"Hahaha, the master has won the prize." Governor Chen was full of joy.

"You go and make arrangements, so that the lower officials and gentry in the city will go out of the city with their officials tomorrow to greet them."

The master hurriedly bowed down to receive the order and went to arrange.

The people in the rivers and lakes and the green forests also heard the news, and those green forest heroes who were more attached to the city hurriedly performed the land flying method and rushed to the city one after another, all wanting to witness the honor of this mysterious hero.

Those small stall vendors with a keen sense of smell, before it was dark, set up stalls on both sides of the crowded roads in Dongshuanghe Town and Fucheng, prepared firecrackers, and prepared the opportunity to sell and make a small fortune. They decided to stay up all night and squat in front of the stall so as not to miss the opportunity.

On the second day, the streets of Dongshuanghe Town were full of people, all looking eagerly, waiting for the procession to arrive, and someone in the crowd shouted, "The procession is almost there, almost there, I heard firecrackers in the distance."

The crowd was in a commotion, rushing to the middle of the road, standing on tiptoe and looking. But I saw a group of people in the distance walking towards Dongshuanghe Town.

The procession was getting closer and closer, two rows of spearmen in front of the way, three young men riding horses in the middle, two strong men on Hummer, and one scholar on weak horses. Everyone felt very novel, and they guessed who was the owner of the village, and many people regarded the imposing Shengying as the owner of the Mujia village, killing the ancient domineering hero.

Some people even bet on the spot, betting on who is the owner of the village, and everyone can't accept the fact that Yu Xiang, who is riding an old and thin horse, is a big hero; This morning, the red lady originally chose Yu Xiang with the most sturdy horse as a mount, but Yu Xiang rode a horse for the first time, the temperament of the good horse, Yu Xiang tried several times, and almost fell off the horse, the red lady felt sorry for Yu Xiang, afraid that he would fall, so he had to choose a thin old horse, fortunately, the team is moving forward slowly, and the horse speed is not high. However, Shengying and Li Gang's mounts are strong horses, plus Shengying and Li Gang's burly figures, eyes like electricity, handsome and chic, and extraordinary bearing, the momentum of the two of them covers Yu Xiang tightly. When the red lady saw such a combination, she couldn't help laughing, the contrast between the three people was too strong, two strong and one weak, I don't know what the crowd along the way should think when they see it. Yu Xiang let the red lady stay in Zhangjia New Village, in that era, it was not good for girls to show their faces, and Zhangjia New Village also needed people to guard.

Besides, behind Yu Xiang's horses, there were three horses dragging the cart, and the cart was tied to the cart in the shape of "big", without any cover, Gu Batian's stomach was broken, emitting an unpleasant smell, Gu Batian had a golden dart nailed to his neck, a knife in his chest, and a steel knife under Gu Batian's ribs. The whole scene was extremely bloody, the timid people on the side of the road closed their eyes and didn't dare to open them, but those who hated Gu Batian looked extremely relieved, and they all thanked Yu Xiang for giving them out of the evil anger in their hearts.

On the prisoner cart behind the cart, there were several people detained, and after a jury trial, these people were found to be the most heinous people, they usually bullied men and women, harmed the people, and did all kinds of evil, and they were even more hateful than Gu Batian.

However, the master Zhang Cijin is not among them, and Zhang Cijin has been judged by the jury to be a major meritorious person because of his meritorious report, and he has not been sent to the government. Of course, this is also Yu Xiang's hand, in case the government turns its face and doesn't recognize people, and in turn against himself, he can use Zhang Cijin as evidence of the government's collusion with bandits and bullies, with this bargaining chip, presumably the government will be afraid.

At the end of the line was a group of soldiers with waist swords.

The front gong sounded to open the way, and the spearmen parted the crowd to both sides.

When people saw Gu Batian's tragic situation, they clapped their hands and applauded, and some people threw stones at the corpses and prisoner cars. Some of the agitated civilians rushed into the procession, beating and biting the people in the prisoners' carts, some of the prisoners were asked to lose their ears, others were poked blind in the eyes, and the guards made great efforts to stop the agitated civilians.

At this time, the sound of firecrackers in Dongshuanghe Town came and went, and the firecracker stalls on the side of the road were quickly sold out.

As Yu Xiang expected, after the team walked by, the crowd that watched the excitement did not disperse immediately, they consciously followed behind the team, and they also wanted to see how the prefect dealt with these people.

Therefore, the queue is getting longer and longer, and when they are about to arrive at Fucheng, the queue is as many as 1,000 people, and the long queue is moving forward, and the scene is spectacular!

Outside the city gate of Fucheng, a servant hurriedly ran to report: "The team is almost outside the city gate, and there is no end to it, but I am afraid that there are thousands of people!" "Governor Chen has already sent spies to keep an eye on the team's movements.

Governor Chen had already led the gentry and lower-level officials in the city to wait at the gate of the city, and saw the procession coming from afar, the scene was quite spectacular.

Seeing that he was about to arrive at the city gate, Yu Xiang saw a group of people surrounding the city gate, and the outfits of these people were not ordinary people, so he asked Shengying: "Sheng Daxia, it seems that there are people from the government in front?" ”

Shengying replied: "Exactly, the prefect personally went out to greet him, this is the highest courtesy!" The one in front of him wearing an official uniform with an embroidered Yunyan pattern should be Governor Chen. ”

When Yu Xiang heard this, he was secretly happy in his heart: It seems that the situation is as he expected, and he has the bargaining chips to negotiate with the prefect, and he is much more at ease. At this time, Yu Xiang was determined to form a community of interests with the prefect, and asked him for policies, technology, and talents, otherwise, the dream of building a new village would really be just a dream, and if it was not done well, it would be crowned as a conspiracy. The anti-crime comes.